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Monday, April 28, 2008

Yes, one should dream. One should always dream of some of the things that can be done, once the goal is met. Me, I like to look around at luxury living ideas. And every now and then I'll come across something to share with you.This week, we're going to talk about ISLANDS. Did you know that you could rent a whole island to yourself? Did you know that you can rent an entire island for a week for $2,000?I was amazed when I found this out. This means a hard working person like myself could save up for 6 months to a year and easily have enough money to rent an island for a couple of weeks (with full staff available).Interested in the possibilities? Check out the Private Island Website.http://www.privateislandsonline.com/islandsforrent.htmCheck out:Private Islands Online (Rent and Sale of Islands)http://rent.privateislandsonline.com/Rent My Islandhttp://www.rentmyisland.com/Guana Island (The Caribbean before it went public)http://www.guana.com/welcome/welcome/welcome.htmlTurtle Islandhttp://www.turtlefiji.com/Accommodation/Rent-the-Entire-Island/

Saturday, April 26, 2008

Very new blog called Make Money Online . . . talking about the best ways to make money online. I found the layout, kind of hard to read (busy, actually) but the information is really good. If you are thinking about blogging , websites and making money you should read the articles here. There are very few but give the guy a break, he just got started. Very promising site.

Friday, April 25, 2008

I have some updated information about REDC Auctions in another more rent article. Make sure to visit and read that one too! Let's Revisit the REDC.

It's time that we purchased a home. At least that's what my husband is telling me. We like being homeowners and now that the prices have fallen, home ownership (AGAIN) looks a bit reasonable. I tried to convince my husband that we should wait another year or so, but he's not buying it. So we're looking for bargains.

That's where REDC auctions came into the picture. We saw these big yellow signs on houses all around town. The whole city is a great big Open House Day. After visiting a few open houses, we go to the website . . . and we are hooked.

We pick out a couple of houses we like, we call our mortgage broker friend, we get pre-approved and we are ready to go right?

"Ahhh, have you looked at the Purchase Agreement Contract?" Our mortgage friend ask.

"No, not yet." I say. He knows that I always read the fine print on EVERYTHING I sign, BEFORE I sign it.

"Well, let me know when you read it," and he chuckles. Chuckles -- at ME.

I quickly download the purchase agreement and start reading, but it's long and I hate reading long involved documents "on screen" so I try to print it out. Can't. REDC has it password protected and they won't give me the password.

So, I go around them and made image files (photo snapshots) of each page of the PDF file. Yeah, it's a long process, but I did it. I print out the agreement and get my trusty partner "the highlighter" and dog gone it -- what do I find?

All kinds of statements that scream out to me, DON'T DO THIS!

No seriously, from reading the fine print I found out:

1. You need to provide 5% earnest money and have all paperwork done for a 21 day close or you forfeit the money. OK, tight deadline, but it can be done if you have all your ducks in a row. Check.

2. This is not an absolute auction -- like a regular auction. The properties has a reserve and the lender/seller has 15 business days to decline the winning offer. If they decline, you get your earnest money back in a few weeks. Not fair but they're covering their butts, but OK.

3. You will never get the starting price on the property. There is a secret reserve that must be met. And the seller or REDC will not tell you the "secret reserve." I hate that method of auction so much, that refuse to use the "reserve price" stuff on my E-BAY auctions. But I understand because they're not trying to sell a $500,000 house for $1, OK.
4. The seller is allowed to use fake (shill) bidders to insure they meet those secret reserve. But here's the rub . . . they are allowed to used unidentified fake bidders at the auction, so you -- the bidder -- don't know who you are bidding against.

BIG RECORD SCRATCH SOUND . . .

You must be out of yo' mind!

I can not believe that this is even LEGAL,

Hell, I know it's not ethical,

And it definitely makes no sense. . . I can't believe thousands of people are going for this!

Wait a minute, wait-a-minute, wai-a-minent . . .

So basically, as a winning bidder you give a minimum of $5,000 in a cashier's check to strangers, you bid against the seller who has a multitude of "secret agents" pushing the price of the property higher and higher . . . and you have no idea how high the price will/can go. And the seller still have 15 BUSINESS DAYS (that's 3 weeks folks) to deny or accept your winning bid? Then they may give you back your deposit/earnest money in a few weeks . . .

Ahh, I don't think so.

Stay away from the REDC / USHomeAuctions.com auctions. As I told my husband, the deals are coming. Just have a little more patience.

Want to know what others are saying about REDC auctions? Here's some interesting discussions on the web: